England captain Alastair Cook fell agonisingly short of ending his barren spell without a Test hundred as he led from the front against India at Southampton on Sunday.Cook won the toss and then made 95, having been dropped early on, out of England's 247 for two at stumps on the first day of the third Test. Gary Ballance, who helped his captain put on 158 for the second wicket, succeeded where Cook had failed by reaching three figures to be 104 not out at the close."I was desperate to score runs," Cook, who has averaged a modest 26 since scoring the last of his England record 25 Test hundreds more than a year ago, told Sky Sports."It's been a long time since I have done it. Tonight I feel like I have contributed.The 29-year-old left-handed opener added: "I can't tell you how much I wanted to score a hundred. It's a step in the right direction. You always back yourself to score when you are under pressure. To be 247 for two is a great day. We have given ourselves a platform."An India attack missing injured paceman Ishant Sharma, whose career-best seven for 74 sealed their 95-run win in the second Test at Lord's, was unable to pose much of a physical threat on an even-paced pitch. But if those circumstances were in Cook's favour, he still needed to stay at the crease. Several ex-England skippers, the latest being Test exile Kevin Pietersen on Saturday, had called for Cook to resign as captain. But the undaunted Cook, despite his run drought and with England 1-0 down in the five-match series, opted to bat first on a green-tinged surface.At the post-match conference the England captain said he was unsure about how he felt about his innings. He had done well to get back to form with 95, but not summing up his return to form with a ton would've been disappointing.

"Mixed feelings to sum it up right," said Cook at the post days press conference.

"It was frustrating to fall five runs short of the hundred. But if someone had offered me 95 runs yesterday, I would have grabbed it with both hands. So I am delighted to get those 95 runs," a visibly relieved Cook said.

Asked if he had changed anything in his batting, Cook replied: "I was going to the ball a lot more than I have ever done in my career before this. That is something I changed. It was for the first time today and at certain deliveries I was going towards them. It was something different and it worked."

Ballance's innings meant the Zimbabwe-born left-hander, who'd repeatedly come in with England in difficulty, had now scored three hundreds and two fifties in his six Tests.